Those who can stay on the field for longer will more often than not produce better results.

Burnie recruit Chris McDonald is no different, with a bag of eight goals last week coming on the back of four consecutive games after missing with injury earlier in the season.

The former Penguin player said it was a relief to finally get some reward for the hard work.

``It was good to get a few marks close enough to goal,'' he said.

``I thought I started the year off pretty well, but then had a back injury and done my groin which saw me miss three weeks.

``It's taken a few weeks to get the body right, but I'm coming good now.

McDonald, who also had a stint at Devonport earlier in his career, said there was a period of adjustment required for him to get back into the flow of TSL football.

``Especially up forward, you would either get a big defender who is a bit slow, or a smaller one that can't go with you in the air, but most defenders in the TSL are pretty good medium-size players that can do both,'' he said.

``My fitness levels have had to go up a bit more from NTFL level and I'm a bit different player from what I was back at Devonport - a little bit more experienced now.''

The Dockers host a Hobart City team today that currently sits three games out of finals calculations.

McDonald said a win is vital for the Dockers, both for ladder position and current team structure.

``We definitely need to win to stay in the top five, but it's a good challenge I think,'' he said.

``We think third is achievable, but those early losses are probably costing us now and we can't let any games slip.

``If we can play well without some of our key players it might benefit us at the end of the year.''